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139th Chapter

No matter how implausible it seemed, I couldn’t dismiss it simply as a misunderstanding if there was a precedent.

Lost in thought, I was lagging behind, but Reiner naturally adjusted his pace to match mine, glancing at my expression. I forced a smile, trying to convey that everything was fine.

“Look, it’s a lake.”

With Reiner’s unwavering gaze still on me, I brushed the back of my neck and pointed to the lake spread out before us. His eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he turned to the lake and nodded.

“Yes… it’s beautiful.”

Reiner whispered softly as he gazed quietly at the lake.

The remote lake, illuminated by stars embedded in the night’s veil, was adorned with glowing lanterns that shone brighter than any light created by humans.

Countless lanterns dotted the blue lake like white specks, making the surface beneath gleam. The gentle night breeze stirred the reflections, causing them to flicker.

“Wow.”

A sigh escaped my lips. The harmony of human-made lights and the natural glow of the moon created a scene that felt like a fragment from a forgotten fairy tale, impossibly distant from reality.

The night breeze brushed past the stars, carrying the scents of grass and water, making my heart swell with distant beauty.

“Reiner, over there…”

Lost in the stunning view, I spotted a lantern mixed with ash gray and gold in the middle of the lake and pointed it out to Reiner. I wanted to tell him it resembled him.

Our eyes met, as if we had been waiting for that moment. His golden eyes stared at me as though he had never looked away.

When I faced those eyes shining like stardust scattered by the gods, I thought to myself.

Those eyes were even more beautiful than that ethereal scenery.

“I’m glad to see this view with you.”

Reiner approached me, taking long strides. The distance that had once separated us shrank in an instant—

He gently lifted my chin. As his upper body leaned closer, our faces drew nearer.

I wondered when it had started.

That touching skin felt comforting instead of unpleasant, softening my heart.

Looking into his eyes was no longer laborious but flowed naturally, like water. The faint scent of rosewood occasionally wafted into my mind, and when I experienced it directly, I found it enchanting.

A peculiar air and strange tremor seeped into our exchanged glances.

Our breaths mingled riding the night breeze. His eyes, imbued with the champagne’s noble golden hue, suggested that he had drank the stars.

Perhaps my own perception had dulled as I, too, seemed to have drunk starlight, floating amid a sensation of unreality.

He was absurdly beautiful, a face one could hardly resist.

Yet, what captured my gaze was not his beauty.

It was the unwavering north star.

The north star never loses its direction, even when the compass breaks. It quietly points to the cold north in any circumstance.

Reiner was my north star.

I believed he would steadfastly protect the sky.

‘I truly believe in Reiner.’

As I gazed into those shining eyes under the night sky, I realized my faith in him was unwavering.

Reiner drew his face even closer. Under the moonlight, his ash-gray eyebrows shimmered like silver threads.

The atmosphere was sweet and sticky like champagne. His red lips seemed like they would burst with the rich sweetness of cherries if bitten. Always shining brightly like a full moon, his half-closed eyelids created crescent shapes around his golden pupils.

Underneath that golden facade pulsed an overflowing, boiling desire.

A shiver ran down my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Inhaling, the sweetness in the air felt as if honey was mixed within it.

His nearness was strange, and it felt odd that my gaze lingered on his slightly parted lips; as if I were compelled to mimic his red tongue that seemed to caress his lips, as if yearning for something.

The strangest thing was that despite feeling the oddity, I couldn’t escape it.

No. I wasn’t sure if I couldn’t escape it, or if I simply chose not to.

As Reiner’s face approached, our noses touched, and his head tilted askew.

Just before the reds were to intertwine—

He breathed urgently, as if blocking a dam about to burst, and gently pressed his lips to the corner of my left mouth, then drew back.

It was then that I finally took a breath.

I didn’t even know why I had been holding my breath.

Like someone dazed from a dream, I blinked slowly and raised my gaze to meet the man before me.

Reiner’s face turned bright red, as if he was about to cry, a pained expression flickering across his features.

Thud.

His head fell limply onto my shoulder. His large hand brushed against the opposite shoulder where he wasn’t resting, and I felt a slight tremor in the hand that grasped my shoulder.

“I’ve given you everything, so just allow me this much.”

A desire unfulfilled. An endless craving.

The broken voice interwoven with countless emotions lingered in my ears like a horrific funeral march.

It was an unforgettable moment in the fading spring.

“What brings you here?”

I looked over at the man who asked stiffly, his face expressionless like a machine, and let out a long sigh.

The place I had come to in my Mir attire was the Information Guild ‘Hide & Seek.’

Two weeks had passed since the terror attack.

The capital had regained some stability, but investigations into the terror continued.

Though there had been no official announcements, it was common knowledge that the northern forces were behind it.

Chilled air hung over society, and it felt as though war with the north could be declared at any moment.

I had come to this place to resolve the many questions that had accumulated as of late.

The ash-gray wolf emblem said to be of Leisha’s belongings. The entry pass to the Fairy Forest within it. The fact that the location it had come from was our home, specifically my mother’s room. Zigmund, who had taken it. Yasha from the ‘Blue Wings’ who knew my mother.

‘Leisha, my mother Audrey, the fairy, Zigmund, and Yasha.’

I intended to investigate this tangled web of mysteries through the Information Guild.

‘Maybe I could commission them to look into Leisha, my mother, and Zigmund.’

Calming my thoughts, I opened my mouth.

“I would like to make a request.”

“We’re not accepting requests at the moment. Please come back later.”

‘What the—…

I lamented my bad luck while looking at the man who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed if I pricked him with a needle.

‘Later… what if I can’t come back?’

The truth was digging into my mother’s past required a great deal of courage.

Worries that the mother I knew might have been concealing a dark truth. Or the anxiety that I might confirm I was truly the child she never wanted.

Getting to this point had required deep contemplation and a significant decision.

If I went back now, I wasn’t sure whether I could find the resolve to come here again.

I sighed and rummaged through my pocket, pulling out a round object.

Swish.

“What’s this?”

“See for yourself.”

I tossed the object, and the man naturally caught it, his eyebrows twitching. Initially skeptical, his eyes widened in shock.

“Could it be, are you truly Mir?”

Many mercenaries used my name, but there was something that only belonged to me.

The golden token certifying me as a golden shield mercenary.

There was only one mercenary named Mir who bore the golden token.

“Does this mean you’ll accept requests today?”

I saw the astonished look on the man’s face and slowly smiled.

The man hurriedly contacted someone, leading me deep into the guild.

From what I gathered, the man intended to guide me through ordinary requests, but it seemed he was required to take me directly to the guild leader due to some orders.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

I hadn’t anticipated meeting with the guild leader, but I was fine with making the request directly. It’s always best to negotiate face-to-face about anything.

Making a request directly to the guild leader would ensure things were handled properly, if only for the guild’s pride.

‘But… what reason could the guild leader have to want to meet me?’

I sat in an ornate chair, propping up my chin, and scanned the room.

The office that appeared to belong to the guild leader was impeccably tidy to a sickening degree, more reminiscent of a place manufactured for tourism than one inhabited by people.

The decor, composed solely of monochrome and solid wood, lacked any extravagance, yet the furniture occupying the room radiated the air of luxury.

‘Usually, they wouldn’t leave an outsider alone in the guild leader’s office. Especially in an information guild.’

The Information Guild practiced stricter security than any other. Yet, they had left me alone in the leader’s most confidential area, exposing the way in, which undoubtedly meant there was a reason behind it.

‘If it were a newly founded or lesser-known guild, I might consider it a mistake. But a named guild like ‘Hide & Seek’ wouldn’t make such an error.’

‘Hide & Seek’ was founded five years ago. While it wasn’t steeped in history, it could hardly be classified as new. Additionally, it had gained a reputation quickly with high request success rates right from its inception.

It was clear that this situation was intentional, not a mistake.

‘What could they want from me?’

Narrowing my eyes, I stood up and leisurely turned around the room. There were various magical tools, implying the guild leader might be a magician, but it seemed there were no surveillance magical tools.

‘I know nothing about the guild leader of this guild.’

Typically, guilds would showcase their leaders as a symbol. The guild’s characteristics were determined by their leader’s disposition, and a strong leader was a source of pride for that guild.

Thus, the significance of a guild leader in a guild was monumental.

However, the guild leader of ‘Hide & Seek’ was completely shrouded in mystery. They had never revealed their face publicly, nor was their name known. There were no common sightings, only rumors circulating in abundance.

‘The more I think about it, the more ominous it feels. What on earth is their game?’

Without any knowledge to work with, suspicions only piled up on top of each other.

The only thing I could come up with was that they might be trying to recruit me as a guild member, but that remained merely a hypothesis, leaving me frustrated.

I had come to solve mysteries, but it felt like I was generating more questions instead, and a groan escaped me involuntarily. For now, I decided to set my thoughts aside and look around the room until the guild leader arrived.

‘I have a feeling they’re going to be incredibly prickly.’

I ran my fingers over the clean ebony wood table. I had assumed the dark color would hide any dust, but upon closer inspection, there wasn’t a speck of dirt to be found.

As I stared incredulously at my dust-free fingertips, my gaze was drawn to the sword resting by the window.

‘Wait, what is this…’

I held my breath in shock, my eyes wide with disbelief as I lifted the sword off its stand.

‘Why is this here?’

This sword, while not as flashy as those of the nobility, was clearly a finely crafted blade made by an excellent blacksmith.

The meticulously crafted silver handle, the crystal clear amethyst embedded in its center, and a tag hung from the end of the grip.

It was a sword I recognized well.

 

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